President Edgar Lungu has assigned five ministers to travel to China and engage authorities, financing institutions and business houses on a Debt Restructuring Programme.

According to a statement issued by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda today, President Lungu said this when he met the new Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Jie.

“President Lungu assured the Chinese Ambassador that Zambia will proactively engage China at every stage of the implementation of debt restructuring programme [to ensure] that there was no disruption in the financing arrangements, project implementation and overall contractual obligations. The President appealed to the Chinese Ambassador to inform the relevant Chinese authorities, financiers and companies that there will be no disruption in the ongoing projects because there was a care approach to guide the implementation of the measures announced by the Minister of Finance,” stated Chanda.

“To this effect, the President informed the Ambassador that he has assigned five ministers to travel to China in the coming days to hold strategic consultations with Chinese authorities, financing institutions and Chinese companies doing business in Zambia to discuss the Debt Restructuring Programme. The Ministers who have been assigned to travel to China are; the Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Housing and Infrastructure and National Development and Planning.”

Chanda stated that Ambassador Jie assured President Lungu of China’s continued support in various areas of national development.